The relative economic impact of industrial chemical spills on entrepreneurship: The case of coast pollution in the USA

The purpose of this paper is to obtain a dollar value, as a measure of the relative economic impact of spills of various hazardous substances at various sites along the coasts of the contiguous United States of America. The three hazardous substances studied were 2,4-D N-oleyl 1,3-propylenediamine salt, chlorobenzene and hydrogen peroxide. The model used was the NRDAM/CME of the U.S. Department of Interior. The test spills used were 10,000 gallons. A wind speed of 10 knots was used, while wind direction was chosen to be one of the principal eight directions of the compass and deemed to be one of the most direct routes to the land. The results indicated that the highest damages for each of the chemical spills studied occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. This method may be used as a measure of the relative economic importance of the various natural resources along the maritime coasts with respect to the spills of the hazardous materials.